Wednesday, May 27, 2009

"We sleep soundly in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm." -- Winston Churchill

This quotation can be found, among other places, on the flyleaf of Vince Flynn's latest blockbuster, "Extreme Measures."

The first edition was issued in October of 2008, which of course means it was written well before that... but it is incredibly timely, in that its plot includes bleeding-heart U.S. Senators who want to prosecute and jail some of those rough men Churchill talked about; one of whom, of course, is Flynn's fictional hero.

And speaking of rough men, if you want a real eye-opener, just read anything by ex-Navy Seal Richard Marcinko. But don't read it if you are sensitive to, um, rather salty language, and you can't stand the thought of terrorists and traitors getting their just desserts, heaven help you.

I first read one of his books several months ago and remembered that it was well-written, with a very distinctive voice, and I enjoyed it a lot.

Fast forward to late last week at the public library. I was rummaging around in the M portion of the fiction section, when a library worker with a cart stopped and asked if I needed any help.

"Well, I read this really good book, and I can't remember the name of the book or the author, but it was somewhere around here."

He wished me luck, and went on to the next shelf; but he was still well within earshot when I continued, "It was one of those chasing-terrorists-around-the-world kind of books, and it was actually pretty funny, and it was written by a guy who used to do that sort of thing."

The library worker came back around the corner, pointed to a book by Marcinko, and said, "Might be somebody like that guy." Sure enough, it was exactly that guy.

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

... I'll bet money you didn't, if you are not closely involved in the medical field.

Your confidential information--medical and otherwise--may very well be going overseas without your knowledge or consent.

Many medical providers in the U.S., in a short-sighted effort to save money, offshore their medical transcription work to India, Pakistan, the Philippines, and other places. (They've been doing it for years, and the wages for medical transcription work in the U.S. have dropped pretty drastically in the same time frame. But that's another gripe.)

Often, in the course of having your medical records transcribed overseas, all of your information that will enable identity theft goes right along with it. And it is, of course, impossible to enforce U.S. privacy laws offshore.

Regular readers might remember the fun I had when I received an order of ::ahem:: male enhancement "vitamins" in the mail, courtesy of an identity thief who was too stupid to change the credit card address to his own. (I am assuming it was a he, because who else would order that stuff?)

The connection I did not make at that time was that less than 3 months earlier, I had been to a medical practice that I know for a fact sends its transcription work to India. (I know this because a friend of mine used to have their account, and she lost it when they decided they wanted to save money.)

Coincidence? I really can't say. But if I, without a larcenous bone in my body, could envision how an unscrupulous medical transcription service operator somewhere in the third world might team up with an identity theft ring and sell them private information (names, social security numbers, etc.)... well. You get the picture.

Here is a site that has more information about a bill currently sitting in Congress that would require Americans to be notified before any of their personal information is sent overseas.

Saturday, May 23, 2009

Excuse me? Somebody can honestly, with a straight face, suggest that the Republicans are stepping over the line for going after Nancy "what-did-she-know-and-when-did-she-know-it" Pelosi? Have they been blind and deaf for the past 8 years? Do I have to remind anyone about Bush being Hitler, Cheney being Darth Vader and all that?

Friday, May 22, 2009

I mean... what else are you gonna do when the alert sounds and you're in your pajamas? Are you gonna take the time to get dressed and possibly endanger your comrades, or are you gonna go out there and do what needs to be done?

First, Joss Whedon's fantastic show Firefly gets canceled after half a season, among other things allegedly being unable to find an audience (which is kind of hard to do with a show that is moved, pre-empted, and the episodes shown out of order).

Monday, May 11, 2009

And it's even scarier when the good help you can't get is your own employer, not your minions.

It seems nobody bothered to tell me, after a month and a half, that my health insurance enrollment forms (which went in along with all my other employee forms) mysteriously never got there, even though they were in the same batch with all the forms that did arrive safely.